Greed to read!

Author JK Rowling once famously remarked ‘I do believe something very magical happens when you read a good book.’ If you’re a true bookworm, you must surely be nodding your head in agreement. The coming few months will see some exciting new titles in both fiction and non-fiction. With Book Lover’s Day approaching on August 9, After Hrs gives you a glimpse into what you can look forward to...

The Book of Chocolate Saints by Jeet Thayil

Award-winning novelist Jeet Thayil tells the story of Newton Francis Xavier, poet, serial seducer of young women, reformed alcoholic, philosopher, recluse, all-round wild man and India’s greatest living painter. At the age of 66, Xavier, who has been living in New York, is getting ready to return to the land of his birth to stage one final show of his work. As we take the journey from New York to New Delhi, we meet a host of memorable characters and are also given unforgettable insights into love, madness, poetry, sex, painting, saints, death, God and the savagery that fuels all great art.

Jasoda by Kiran Nagarkar

One of India’s finest authors writing in English, Kiran Nagarkar is back with Jasoda. Paar has been suffering from a drought for a decade. Jasoda is one of the last to leave Paar with her brood and mother-in-law. She is a midwife who nurses a dark secret: she kills every daughter born to her, till her eldest son puts a stop to it and one daughter survives. Since her husband claims he has to do important work for H.H. Parbat Singh, she must make the journey to the city on the sea on her own. Will Jasoda return home? Or stay in the city that’s become home for her children?

Awaken (Book 1: The Shakti Trilogy) by Ashok Banker

First in the thrilling Shakti Trilogy set in contemporary India, Ashok Banker’s action-packed and brilliantly imagined Awaken introduces our unlikely heroes who must discover and harness their superpowers before they can protect and preserve the Earth from the wrath of a menacing alien invasion.

Miss Laila Armed and Dangerous by Manu Joseph

A building collapse in Mumbai. In the debris is a man who is mumbling something in delirium. It appears that he is passing on the real-time movements of a young Muslim couple. Elsewhere, a young intelligence agent is assigned to shadow two terror suspects, one of whom is a teenager. Taking up a slice of recent history that is replete with political, communal and gender tension, Joseph proceeds to lampoon the entire system — politicians, the bureaucracy, law enforcement officials and lackeys, investigative journalists, social activists, social media champions, and even the common man.

Celebrating 100th edition of Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

Master storyteller Jeffrey Archer’s Kane and Abel was a global phenomenon when it was first released, selling over one million copies in its first week of sale, and it has captivated readers worldwide ever since. The marvellous story, spans 60 years, of two powerful men linked by an all-consuming hatred, brought together by fate to save and finally destroy each other.

A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold (Revised and updated) by Abhinav Bindra with Rohit Brijnath

Abhinav Bindra’s journey to becoming the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold, and the first Indian to win a World Championship gold is a triumph born of a tragedy. Having driven himself to become a great shooter, he was poised to win gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004. But, defeated by a freak occurrence, he changed as a shooter: from a boy who loved shooting, he became an athlete bent on redemption, turning into a scientist who would try anything, including mapping his own brain, to win in Beijing. His victory was a triumph of hard work, of ingenuity, of stubbornness, and a quest for perfection.

Imperfect: A Memoir by Sanjay Manjrekar

A memoir like no other — from a cricketing expert known for speaking his mind. In Imperfect, Sanjay Manjrekar brings his analytic powers to look back at his own career as a cricketer. His photographic memory takes the reader along on his journey from the dusty maidans of Mumbai to the world stage as the batsman faces up to the fearsome West Indian and Pakistani pace attacks. In his precise plainspeak, Sanjay reflects on his father Vijay Manjrekar, and the effects of that legend on his game; comments on the complex equations with the India greats with whom he shared the dressing room and on the lessons learnt from his opponents; and reveals his own obsession with batting technique, the quest for perfection, and the battle to try to shake off his mental shackles.

Raj Kapoor The original Showman by Ritu Nanda

Raj Kapoor, the creator of such classics as Barsaat, Awara, Shree 420 and Sangam, is one the greatest filmmakers India has ever produced. As producer, director, actor, editor, storyteller, he blazed a trail for subsequent generations of film-makers to follow and aspire to. He was also known to the world as an extraordinary and controversial showman — an entertainer par excellence. In this book, his daughter Ritu Nanda creates a unique ‘autobiography’ by using his own words, culled from interviews, journals and anecdotes. As revealing as it is engaging, this is a fascinating portrait of the man regarded as the last of the true movie moguls of Indian cinema.

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett

The saga that has enthralled millions of readers of The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End now continues with A Column of Fire. Christmas 1558, and young Ned Willard returns home to Kingsbridge to find his world has changed. The ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn by religious hatred. Ned soon finds himself on the opposite side from the girl he longs to marry, Margery. Then Elizabeth Tudor becomes queen and all of Europe turns against England. Elizabeth knows that alluring, headstrong Mary Queen of Scots lies in wait in Paris. Part of a brutally ambitious French family, Mary has been proclaimed the rightful ruler of England, with her own supporters scheming to get rid of the new queen. Over a turbulent half-century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed.

Tell Tale by Jeffrey Archer

Nearly a decade after his last volume of short stories was published, Jeffrey Archer returns with his eagerly-awaited, brand-new collection Tell Tale, giving us a fascinating, exciting and sometimes poignant insight into the people he has met, the stories he has come across and the countries he has visited during the past ten years.